New Award Recognizes Innovative Public Policies and Practices in Workforce Housing Development

For more information, contact Trisha Riggs at 202-624-7086; [email protected]

WASHINGTON (April 26, 2010) – The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing is recognizing states and localities with innovative public policies and practices in workforce housing development through a major new award program, the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Award.

The award, created this year, will recognize exemplary state and local efforts that provide ongoing and sustainable support for workforce housing. It will also recognize new or emerging state and local programs and policies with the potential to significantly expand workforce housing opportunities in the future. The award honors the legacy of the late Robert C. Larson, who served as a longtime ULI trustee, former ULI Foundation Chairman, and ULI Terwilliger Center board member. Through Larson’s leadership at the institute, he championed new ways for ULI to address the most pressing issues facing the industry and urban areas, including the provision of affordable workforce housing. In 2010, to honor Larson’s many contributions to ULI, the Institute created the ULI Robert C. Larson Leadership Initiative, which cultivates the leadership skills of its members to enhance leadership within ULI, the development industry, and in communities across the country.

The ULI Terwilliger Center’s Larson award program complements the Center’s highly successful Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Awards program, which recognizes developers demonstrating leadership and creativity in providing expanded housing opportunities for America’s working families. “The Larson award program highlights the public-sector side of workforce housing development. This program and the Kemp award program are helping greatly to raise awareness of the pressing need for housing that is affordable to people who are essential to the economic vitality, strength, and well-being of our communities,” said J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman and founder of the Washington-based ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing.

Building or preserving workforce housing, especially in high-cost areas, requires the active cooperation and participation of state and local governments. States and localities can undertake a broad range of policy and administrative changes such as higher densities, fee waivers, or programs to provide grants or other financial assistance. Although each community must fashion its own workforce housing programs and policies to meet local needs and conditions, these programs can often serve as models for other communities facing housing affordability challenges.

Entries for the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Award competition are due June 15, 2011. Applicants will be judged on a number of factors: •Impact on the supply of workforce housing

• Comprehensiveness of the tools and programs employed by the state and/or locality
• Use of innovative strategies and tolls by the state or locality
• Involvement of public/private partnerships
• Ability to leverage private and nonprofit funds
• Quality of the housing resulting from these efforts
• Extent to which the workforce housing is located near major centers of employment and/or transportation hubs
• Extent to which the efforts of the jurisdiction are worthy of replication

The Robert C. Larson award application is available at: uli.org/terwilliger

About the ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing (uli.org/terwilligercenter) was established in 2007 with a $5 million endowment to ULI from former ULI Chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman of Trammell Crow Residential and chairman of the ULI Terwillliger Center. The mission of the Center is to act as a catalyst in increasing the availability of workforce housing by harnessing the power of the private sector.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in sustaining and creating thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.